Custom motorcycle display

[fibra] has been slowly building a custom controller for his motorcycle. It’s an automated chain oiling system that varies application based on RPM. The LCD can show wheel RPM, voltage, time, date, air, and engine temperature. A separate driver board has a MOSFET for controlling the oiling valve. The real gold here is the attention to detail. He built a one off circuit board. The case is laser cut acrylic that he then shaped. The box is molded smoothly into the original instrument cluster using epoxy. It’s excellent work that could be mistaken for a commercial product.

i’m not understanding the point of it… have owned street bikes and dirt bikes – neither of them needed the chain oiled more than once during ownership. the geek-ness: cool. the practicality: not so cool. “adjusts the amount of oil based upon engine RPMs”????? oil all over your leg? other than that, it cosmetically looks great.

i must be blind. where is this info comming from? are we sure which chain it is meant for? timing chain makes more sense. i’ve heard of timing chains getting dry and jumping timing when the engines are built to run ~15k. i’ll dig around a little more

@anon
I’d like to see you pull 100+ HP on a belt on a bike. That is the reason for chains. Superior friction and strength.

That is a great addition to a bike, most need chains to be waxed/lubed every 500 mi or so. Which is a pretty short distance. It prevents rust and keeps the heat down on the chain.. this helps prevent dry cracking and breaking during riding.

I agree with grovenstien. My first thought was nice smooth lines, followed by why the hell did he use those screws, and the aluminum bottom of the box for a face. seems to cheapen the whole look of a job well done.

as for friction, a chain “consumes” more power just turning it than the belt, due to its having hundreds of moving parts.

The belt, pulleys and idler weigh less than a chain and sprockets, and have no backlash, aka “chain snatch”. hence a belt doesn’t require a cush drive to absorb shock loads. It also don’t require a tensioner assembly in the swingarm, reducing complexity and weight further.

the reason more manufacturers don’t use belt drive is that it as much harder to change drive ratio. you’d have to have a new pulley set for each ratio desired.

chain driven bikes are much more common in European countries. not neccessarily on European made bikes though. a nice mod for bikes whether they be sports, tourers or whatever is a vacuum fed oiler. do a google search for scott oiler.

@djrussell: no need to be condescending. each have their own application

There’s a reason they still use chain drives on motoGP bikes. For their width, chains are still stronger than belts. A thinner chain means more room for a fatter tire, and with a chain, adjusting gear ratios is a little bit easier. Also, a chain is easy to fix if it snaps: just pop a master link on the break.

The trade off is that a chain requires more maintenance: oiling and tensioning (they stretch).
Drive shafts require almost no maintenance, but waste more power than a chain or a belt.

Belt technology is getting better, though, and I won’t be surprise when chain drives become obsolete. Until then, I’ll be breaking out the can of chain wax every so often.